Category: Film Reviews

*Totally Under Control

There are no explosive revelations but plenty of infuriating details in this documentary about the U.S. response to the coronavirus. The movie gives most of its attention to the early days of the pandemic, January through March, arguing that a series of missteps and bad choices made a bad situation so much worse (specifically, so much worse than in places like South Korea, which the movie often uses as an example of different roads taken and the better outcomes). This isn’t some both-sides-y tale; this is solidly an indictment of the Trump administration’s handling of the spread of the illness in the U.S. and the ways in which the administration undermined the federal government’s own pandemic-fighting abilities. Listening to interviews with public health experts discuss early successes and failures in understanding the illness and trying to figure out how to approach it (and a discussion of Obama-era epidemics, how they were handled and what was learned from those successes and failures) is a nice reminder of the abilities of a large, resource-filled organization. The movie is at its most pointed when it shows how that basic competence was undercut for some perceived political gain and the dire consequences of those decisions. A Available to rent and on Hulu.

Kajillionaire (R)

Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriguez.

Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa (Debra Winger) are grifters, people who, as Robert explains, pride themselves on being outside a system that wants them following the rules and striving to be “kajillionaires” and instead they skim. Their daughter, named Old Dolio (Wood) as part of a previous, unsuccessful con, helps them in their scams. She’s the one, for example, who uses her keys to a post office box to steal from surrounding boxes, thanks to good timing and long arms. But she clearly longs for more traditional parenting, at least in the emotional sense, and is jealous of the niceness (fake though it is) in her parents dealings with Melanie (Rodriguez), a woman they meet on an airplane during a scam involving travelers insurance. Melanie seems fascinated by this oddball family and their small heists. What Robert and Theresa’s plans are for her are unclear but from the beginning there is something more between Old Dolio and Melanie than just predator and mark.

This movie is written and directed by Miranda July, best known to me from her 2005 movie Me and You and Everyone We Know. The tone of this movie matches my memory of that one — people who feel anxious in their own skin and in need of connection. There is sweetness here and even some elements that almost border on fantasy — there is no actual magic but at times the people and circumstances push the limits of what is believable. I think asking too many questions about characters’ motivations or even their levels of mental wellness is probably not particularly useful for enjoyment of this movie (think too hard about Kajillionaire and it is disturbing and sad). But, taken at face value, Kajillionaire is a light-touch bit of strangeness and quirky romance. B Available for rent.

* All In: The Fight for Democracy(PG-13)

This documentary is a nice primer on the Voting Rights Act (its purpose and history) and the Shelby County v. Holder U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down parts of that law. It is also a nice bio of Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who served in the state legislature for 10 years and then ran for governor in 2018. She’s one of those people who I feel like I’ve read a lot about but haven’t heard from directly as much as I did here. Sure, every person and their uncle (and the cover of the paper you’re holding) is talking to you about voting, but if you can take just one more… B+ Available on Amazon Prime.

*The Social Dilemma (PG-13)

Get ready to be scared and bummed out by this documentary, the gist of which seems to be that social media (Facebook in particular) is making it hard to have privacy, good government and a civil society. The documentary’s talking heads are primarily former employees of Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, etc., and they explain how some of the most problematic aspects of these platforms are intentional parts of getting consumers to stay on sites longer and monetize that presence. The documentary also looks at the effect these sites have on kids and teens; one person mentions that it would be best to keep kids off social media until at least 16. Less successful are dramatic enactments (featuring multiple Vincent “Pete Campbell” Kartheisers playing, basically, social media algorithms) with teenagers facing all sorts of teen drama online and a teen boy succumbing to the conspiracy theories of the “radical centrists.” The documentary builds to an interesting case for government regulation of these platforms. B Available on Netflix.

* The Fight (PG-13)

This documentary about the lawyers of the ACLU follows four legal tussles with the Trump administration: the battle over making citizenship a census question; the request for abortion services by a young woman held in detention while seeking refugee status; a pushback of Trump’s attempts to ban transgender people from serving in the military and cases related to the Muslim travel ban and family separation policies. I found myself fascinated not just by the discussion of these cases themselves but also by the procedures — how the lawyers go about their appeals for relief for their clients, many of whom are in some kind of race against time, and how they build class action cases. The documentary also offers a look at ACLU’s broader history. B+ Available on Hulu.

* We Are Freestyle Love Supreme (TV-MA)

Watch extremely talented young theater nerds work together to make something in this documentary about Freestyle Love Supreme, a freestyle rap improv group started in the early aughts by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail (probably best known as the director of Hamilton), Chris Jackson (Hamilton’s best-known George Washington), Utkarsh Ambudkar (who you know from lots of things, including The Mindy Project; also, awesomely, he’s a voice on Disney Junior’s Mira, Royal Detective) and other longtime friends and theater people. And I say “nerds” with great affection and in the absolute best sense. This documentary features footage from a 2019 reunion run of Freestyle Love Supreme as well as the group in the mid-2000s (just before and as Miranda’s In the Heights production was ramping up) and some looks back to their start in the early 2000s. This isn’t a super tight, dramatic tale but I tiredly flipped it on one evening and it was a charming boost of happiness. B+ Available on Hulu.

* Disclosure(TV-MA)

This documentary about transgender representation (and the long lack thereof) in Hollywood beautifully answers the “why is it important to see someone like you on screen” question. Actors, filmmakers, writers and other creative types discuss the limited (and often problematic) examples of transgender characters in the TV and movies of their youth and how transgender stories have found at least some entrance into mainstream TV and movies in, basically, the last decade or so. The documentary makes a strong argument for the richer, smarter, more interesting art that comes from giving a more diverse pool of writers and directors the means to tell their stories. B+ Available on Netflix.

The Speed Cubers (TV-PG)

Weighing in at a brisk 40 minutes, this documentary looks at the international Rubik’s Cube competition community (with competitors ranging in age from tween to early twenties) focusing in particular on Australian Feliks Zemdegs and American Max Park. Zemdegs, the older of the two boys, started winning competitions and breaking world records as a young teen. Park, who is a little younger and was diagnosed with autism as a preschool-aged child, started playing with a Rubik’s Cube as a kid as part of his mother’s strategy to help him with finger dexterity. As Park gets good and gets into competition, the basic social skills that requires — like listening to rules and interacting with others — are as much a win as the results of the competition, as his parents explain. As Park gets more into competition, he meets and eventually becomes friends with Zemdegs, who is his cubing hero. The documentary is as much about the boys’ relationship as it is about competitive cubing and the story is a sweet one that also offers a nice slice of this competitive world I’d never heard about before.B Available on Netflix.

Love, Guaranteed (TV-PG)

Rachel Leigh Cook, Damon Wayans Jr.

Sometimes you just need some dumb happy romantic comedies. All the better if it has some genuine talent like Wayans in the mix. Love, Guaranteed features a broke but ethical lawyer (Cook) who decides to represent a man (Wayans) suing a dating website. At first she thinks his lawsuit — over the company’s promise to help him find love in 1,000 dates — is sort of a scam but she takes it anyway because she needs the case and he gives her a check. But, naturally, she starts to Feel, especially when she learns that he’s a physical therapist who likes helping people and is still nursing a heartbreak. Heather Graham is sort of a hoot playing the Gwyneth Paltrow-esque owner of the dating site. This movie is cute but rather simplistic but some evenings, “simple, romantic and with a happily-ever-after ending” is just what the doctor ordered. C+ Available on Netflix.